Hello all,

I have a question about the 45WinMag, specifically about the brass. The 45 WinMag brass can be made from converted .308 or .30-06 brass, cut down the length.

What I am wondering is how to go about reaming the cut-down brass to the proper diameter. My original impression was that I needed to make a reamer that would plunge to the bottom of the case, thereby reaming the entire depth of the cartridge. Keep in mind that cut-down .308 brass is significantly thicker at the base vs. a .45 Win Mag.

I know RCBS makes a neck/case reamer, however I have not seen a picture of the RCBS case reamer, so I can't be sure how long it is to verify my plan.


This is what confused me - some others I've been working with have suggested that I need only to ream down to the depth for the base of the bullet, and let the reduced space from the cut-down brass save me powder... just like reaming converted brass for the .357 Auto Mag. My colleagues suggest I should imitate this for the 45 Win Mag.

That is all fine and good, however I am concerned that I will need to reduce the powder load to the point that I'll lose enough performance that it will matter.


I made a casting of both a factory 45 WinMag case and of a cut-down .308 case. There is a significant difference between the two!


I have the Handloader's Manual of Cartridge Conversions, and it says simply "to ream" but that is all. No indication of how deeply to ream.

I intend to make a reamer for my original plan - to ream all the way to the base. I have to make one because I can't use a straight reamer since the inside is tapered. However I wanted to throw this out to see if others have already tried this, and how much of a difference in performance it makes for full-case reaming vs. reaming only to the bullet depth.

Thanks!
- Jerry

can't say that i can find a logical reason to make 45mag brass from 308 cases. 45 mag brass isn't hard to find or expensive. now if you're thinking of a 44 automag, that would be an entirely different story. that round is made from cut down 308's

I've got a big pile of brass from the .308 / .06 "family" that I intend to convert over.

quote:

Originally posted by hcpookie:
I intend to make a reamer for my original plan - to ream all the way to the base. I have to make one because I can't use a straight reamer since the inside is tapered.

Why do I find this concept troubling?
.

Not sure I understand the concern.

I made a casting of the inside of both a cut-down .308 and a 45 Win Mag case. The .308 is dimensionally smaller INSIDE due to the extra brass. By a significant amount.

My question is simply, is it better to ream deep enough only for the bullet, and accept the reduced performance due to reduced case capacity, or is it better to ream the inside of the .308 brass to be dimensionally closer to the factory .45 Win Mag. I would rather choose the latter.

I suppose I'll try both and see what the chrony says.

Cutting down the brass is doable, and RCBS even has a case trimmer. Me, I have a shop full of tools and would rather NOT spend the $160 on the RCBS case trimmer tools and simply make my own.

Why do you think this would be a problem? Is there a safety concern I'm failing to appreciate?

I think you might be picking nits out of fly $hit. If you ream to bullet depth, you will have a positive stop for bullet seating - a good thing. If you leave the bases untouched, you will have thicker case heads that handle pressure better - another good thing. If your reduced case capacities lead to reduced performance ( which isn't necessarily a given) at 100% loading density, you can step up a powder burn rate or two, and get the desired velocities. Plus you'll save a bunch of reaming, and possibly weakened brass. JMHO!

Thanks Bug! The more I read about case reaming other calibers the more I think reaming only to the bullet depth seems to be the normal thing to do.